Mop



July 17, 1934.

C. FATLAND MOP Filed Feb. e, 195s Azar.

Patented July 1.7, 1934 PATENT OFFC UNITED VSTATESv Mor Y Conrad Fatland, Mount Prospect, Ill. Apsiieanon February s, 1933, 'serial No. 655,425

Y 4 claims'. Y (01.15f119) This invention relates to mops. One object of.-

is to provide a suitable mop for use with the head.l

Of the accompanying drawingvFig. 1 is a plan view of a mop head, which embodies the features of my invention but with the mop omitted; Fig. 2

is a sectional view along the line 2-2 of Fig. l, showing also the mop; Fig. 3 isa sectional View view along the line 4-4'of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a plan View of a modified form of mop head; and Fig. 6

is a view of a part of Fig. 1, showing how the roller head is released.

This application is an improvement over my Patent No. 1,949,461. I. The mop head comprises a yoke consisting 'of two curved bars 10, which are suitably fastened to any ordinary form of handle 11. The .outer ends of the bars provide bearings for the rollers 12 and 13. These rollers may beof any suitable material and may be journaled in the outer ends of the bars 10 in any suitable manner. The spindle 14 of the roller 12 is xed to the roller, andk on the outer end of the spindle is non-'rotatably xed an arm 15 which, together with the bar 16 pivoted thereto, forms a crank for rotating the roller 12, in order to wring the mop. 'Ihe roller 13 is rotatably mounted at the outer ends of the bars, by means of suitable pins 17`which pass freely through the bars 10 and are removable therefrom.

The roller 12 is journaled in the bars 10 in slots 18, so that the distance between `the two rollers may vary according tothe needs. The roller 12, however, is yieldingly pressed against the mop 19 when the mop is inserted between the rollers, by means of a spring 20 at each end of the roller. The spring 20 is mounted on a bar 21, one end of which passes through the spring 20 and through the bar 10. The other end has an opening 24 through which passes the pin 14. In this manner, the mop is pinched firmly between the two rollers and the roller 12 is at liberty to move in the slots 18, in accordance with the thickness of the mop and the compressive strength of the springs 20.

In operation, rotation of the roller 12 is prevented by means of the arm 15 and the bar 16. rihe bar 16 is rotated inwardly and the inner end is held with reference to the handle in any suitable manner. I prefer for this purpose to pass the end of the bar between a spring 25 and the handle 11, the spring being yielding to allow the insertion of the bar and being suiiciently strong to hold the 551v bar in place.

along the line B-Sof Fig. l; Fig. 4 is a sectional The mop itself may be composed of any suitable material, the width of the same being preferably somewhat more than the distance between the in ner ends of Vthe bars 10, and the thickness being suitable to the use. l.' prefer, however, to use 60 a mop with two or more thicknesses, as indicated in Fig. 4, as such a mop is somewhat more pliable than a mop of one layer but of similar thickness.

I prefer, however, to have the edges o the mop either integral or sewed together, and also prefer to have a plurality oi seams 26 running longitudinally of the mop from one end to the other. These seams prevent slipping of one layerof the mop along the other when the mop is being used or wrung..

rIo prevent the mop from being inadvertently forced out from between the rollers, I prefer to form the mop thicker at the ends; for instance, by doubling the ends 27 over, as indicated in Fig. 2, so as to provide double thickness at each end. With the rollers pressing against the mop, under the action of the springs 20, when the mop is rolled until the end 27 strikes the rollers, this thick ,end will prevent the passage of the mop endV between the rollers. With this arrangement, therefore, the operator may rotate the crank without much attention to the particular position of the mop, as the danger of forcing out the mop is eliminated. This also tends to readjust the layers of the mop if they should become somewhat shifted relatively, as the end is held until the layers are shifted to their proper relative positions.

When it is desired to insert or remove theA mop between the rollers, the cotter pin 23 is 90 removed, and this allows the .endwise movement ofthe spindle-14 through the arm 10 and, when pressure is applied to the end of the spindle 14, the resulting endwise movement or" the roller 12 spreads the arms 10 sufficiently to pass one 95.'y of the pins 1'! of the rollers 13 out from its bearings and, thus, to allow the roller 13 to be removed and the mop to be put in position or removed. The roller 13 may then be installed by inserting one pin 17, spreading the bars 10 10G apart, and then pressing the other end of the roller down against the mop until the other pin 17 slips into place. To prevent binding during these operations, the bearings are made large enough to allow the pins 17 to slip easily there- 105 through, and the openings 24 in the bars 21 are enlarged or elongated to allow some tipping of the bar with reference to the spindle 14.

In order to easily bend the arm 10 outwardly to release one end of the roller 13, I provide 11D the two independent bars 2l', in one end of which the inner roller is journaled. The part 21a of said bar 21, which inclines outwardly toward the end of the roller l2. forms a recess to receive the finger 38. This arrangement allows the independent bar 21 to be pulled against the arm 10 without resistance, whereas. if the inner roller were journaled in a fixed bar of an inner yoke the resistance of the xed bar would have to be overcome before the xed bar could be pulled against the arm to bend it outward. This arrangement also, by reason of the aforesaid inclined recess provides a nger hold and causes the finger to slip outwardly towards the roller end and thus gives a greater leverage in bending the arin 10 outward. The operator ordinarily places the thumb against the crank head of the spindle 14, clasps the finger over the bar 21 at 21a and pulls the bar against the associated arm 10 to bend it outward to release one end of the roller 13, as illustrated in Fig. 6.

When it is desired to wring the water out of the mop, the arm 16 is released from under the spring 25, and it is rotated outwardly to the position indicated by the dotted lines 30. The shoulder 31 then comes against the outer edge 32 of the bar 15 and prevents the arm 16 from being turned further when the right-angular position with reference to the bar 15 has been reached. The arm 16 may then be used as a handle, in conjunction with the bar l5, to form a crank for rotating the roller 12. When thus rotated, if the mop is wet, it will be shifted between the rollers and may be thoroughly wrung.

Fig. 5 illustrates certain modifications of the mop head. in this case, at springs 35 are substituted for the coil springs 20, and straight bars 36 are substituted for the bent bars 21. The bars 36 each has one end passing through the bars 10f, and an opening 37 in the other end receives the pin 141. The operation of the springs 35 is substantially the same as that of the springs 20, it being understood that, in either case, the strength of the springs may be suited to the needs, so that the mop may be held rmly in place and may be suitably wrung when desired.

If desired, the mop used with either of these embodiments of my invention may be thicker at the ends by doubling, as indicated; or in any other suitable manner; and cross seams 39 at the ends and cross seams 29 between the ends may be provided. The cross seams 29 assist in preventing relative undesirable shifting of the layer of fabric without affecting materially the y flexibility of the mop.

I claim as my invention: 1. In a mop head wringer, a head comprising a yoke-like pair of arms and a pair of. rotatably coacting rollers journaled in the outer ends of said arms, means resiliently pressing the rollers together, said means comprising a pair of bars positioned between the arms, one end of each of the bars being slidably mounted in the adjacent arm, the inner roller being journaled in the other end of each of the bars, one of the rollers being removable by spreading the arms, and one of the inner bars being inclined outwardly towards the associated end of the inner roller to provide a nger hold and direct the pull of the finger to a point on said bar adjacent one end of said roller to bend the associated arm outward and release one end of the outer roller.

2. Avmop head comprising a yoke-like pair of arms, each having an elongated slot near its outer end, a pair of rotatably coacting rollers journaled in the outer ends of said arms, the inner roller ends being'each slidably journaled in one of said slots, each of said arms having a transverse portion, a bar positioned on the inner side of each: of. said yoke-like arms and having one of its ends mounted in the transverse portion of the arm, each of said bars being provided with a shoulder a substantial distance from its outer end and having a coil spring positioned on its outer end between the shoulder and the transverse portion of the associated arm, the ends of the inner roller being journaled in the ends of the respective bars.

3. A mop head as claimed in claim 2, in which one of said inner bars has a sufticient length between said transverse portion of said yoke-like arm and the inner roller to allow the operator to clasp the ngers over said inner bar and, pull said inner bar against the associated arm to bend the arm outward and release one end of the outer roller.

4. A mop head comprising a yoke-like pair of arms. each of said arms having a transverse portion, a pair of rotatably coacting rollers journaled in said arms, the inner roller ends being each slidably journaled in an elongated slot in each of said arms, a bar positioned on the inner side of each of said arms and having its outer end mounted in the transverse portion of its associated arm, each of the inner bars having its other end associated with the adjacent roller end, and one of the inner bars having a substantial portion between the transverse portion of the associated arm and the inner roller that is inclined outwardly towards the end of said roller to provide a nger hold and direct the pull of the nger to a point on said inner bar near the end of said roller to bend the associated arm outward and release one end of the outer roller.

CONRAD FATLAND. 

